Jon Stewart almost quit the Daily Show, host tells Stephen Colbert

On Friday, The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart made those remarks and more regarding the less-than-warm welcome he received from staff when he took over hosting duties of the late-night satire in 1999.

“I had to be talked down from a moderately high cliff,” Stewart says about nearly leaving the show. “What I did not realize is, a lot of the people who worked there were a–holes.”

While Stewart’s comedy certainly isn’t to everyone’s tastes, he let it be known that there were people at his own network who didn’t support his brand of humour at the start of what is now a 13-year tenure at The Daily Show.

“I walk in the door, into a room with the writers and producers, and the first thing they say is, ‘This isn’t some MTV bulls–t.’ And then I was told not to change the jokes or improvise,” Stewart said. The comedian added that it took about two-and-a-half years to comfortably shape the show to his original vision. “I had, before taking [the job], some conversations with the powers that be there about the direction I thought we could move the show,” he said. “I wanted it to be satirical in the classic sense of the word, not the Spy magazine sense of the word where you just add adjectives like ‘pepperpot.’ ”

I walk in the door, into a room with the writers and producers, and the first thing they say is, ‘This isn’t some MTV bulls–t’

Stewart made the confession to Colbert Report host and former Daily Show colleague Stephen Colbert at the Wellmont Theater in New Jersey for a fundraiser for the Montclair Film Festival.

On top of dishing the dirt on his least favourite staff, Stewart also let loose on his least favourite Daily Show guest: Hugh Grant.

“He’s giving everyone s–t the whole time, and he’s a big pain in the a–,” Stewart said of the British actor, who was on the show at the time to promote 2009’s Did You Hear About the Morgans? Stewart claims that Grant complained about the clip from the film that was used, to which the host replied, “Well, then make a better f–king movie.”